News Releases

News Release | Environment Washington

Bainbridge Bans Plastic Bags

Last night, the Bainbridge City Council voted unanimously in favor of banning single-use plastic bags. Of the more than fifteen people who testified for the ordinance, only one was in opposition. The measure is aimed at cutting pollution in Puget Sound and the Ocean where plastic bags can harm whales, seals and salmon.  In 2010, a beached grey whale in West Seattle was found with 20 plastic bags in its stomach, highlighting this terrible problem.

News Release | Environment Washington

Obama Administration to Protect Americans’ Health by Setting Carbon Pollution Standards for New Power Plants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today proposed historic new limits on carbon pollution from new power plants. Coal-fired power plants are the largest single source of carbon pollution in the U.S., yet there are currently no federal limits on this pollution from power plants.  The standard proposed today will correct that for new power plants by limiting their emissions of carbon pollution.

News Release | Environment Washington

New Report: Recycling Cannot Solve Plastic Bag Problem

Plastic bags threaten marine wildlife and recycling won’t solve the problem according to a new report released today by Environment Washington, a citizen-based advocacy group that won a ban on plastic bags in Seattle.  While the plastics industry admits there is a problem with plastic pollution, it insists recycling can solve it. According to a new report from Environment Washington, A Solution Not in the Bag, recycling is not the answer.

News Release | Environment Washington

A Huge Victory for Mount Rainier National Park

Thanks to a huge outpouring of public support from Environment Washington members, we were able to convince our leaders in Washington to expand Mt. Rainier National Park and protect the Carbon River Valley rainforest.

News Release | Environment Washington

House Transportation Bill Drives Us to Deeper Oil Dependence

This afternoon, Representative John Mica (R-FL), Chairman of the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, officially introduced a major transportation reauthorization bill. The overall plan for the bill includes proposals to open the Atlantic and Pacific coasts as well as the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, and to open landscapes in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming to oil shale extraction. At the same time, it cuts all funding for biking and walking safety and cripples environmental review for transportation projects. On top of this, Speaker of the House John Boehner has said that he would attach approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline to this bill if it were not otherwise immediately approved.

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